Bang, Flash, Boom!
by Rose's.wings
Summary: Human celebrations don't really translate well on Cybertron, but that doesn't stop a handful of younglings from getting into trouble with fireworks. Spinoff of my Aria story, but is purely a story of youngling mischief and friendship. Happy New Year!


Yay! I finished it. n_n I wasn't going to write something for New Year's, but then I got stuck on my Christmas oneshot (which I will post as soon as the ending comes to me. It's only a few more pages, I think...) so I quickly wrote this to make up for it. I really hope you like it. I do a whole lot. Now I literally just finished it, so if there are any errors, tell me and I'll fix them later. I want to get this up before midnight. *Sigh* last story of the year. *Sniff* so sad...

I really hope you love it. Now Happy New Year! For Au-auld Lang Syne! n_n

...

Bang, Flash, Boom

Moving away is never easy, especially if you are the otherworldly equivalent of a seven year old. It gets even worse when you're moving away because some psychopath bent on world domination wants to kill you.

"I hate this." Arcee grumbled from where she was sitting, kicking her feet unhappily. She was the only femme out of the seven of them, but that didn't keep her from fighting dirty when the smaller twins, Skids and Mudflap, tried to tag team her in fight. She was also the first who had to leave.

The yellow youngling Bumblebee expelled a heavy gust of air. "Yeah," he mumbled. The seven of them were all sitting in one of the forgotten stairwells in their home city of Iacon. It was a big city, so there were a lot of stairwells, but this one was their favorite. It was quiet, lying on the outskirts of the central city, but it was still only a little ways away from the busier hallways where most of the fighting Autobots stayed.

Because it was so quiet, the seven younglings thought that no one else knew about there hideout. Well, no one but Jie Mei. They were wrong of course, but they didn't know that.

Thinking of their older sister – the organic woman named Aria that had found them when they were nothing but sparklings – Bumblebee's head shot up. "Jie Mei!" He suddenly shouted, his little yellow antenna like appendages flicking up in excitement.

"What?" One of the Seeker younglings – Fastlane, who had two bright red speed lines down each of his diminutive wings – asked in confusion.

"We can ask Jie Mei what to do. She knows _everything_." He thought about that. "Well, almost." He added with a little shrug.

"Yeah, but she knows about this too." The other Seeker youngling, Cloudraker, said sadly. Unlike his brother Fastlane, Cloudraker had forgone the speed lines. Instead, he had a puffy, gray thundercloud on the underside of his left wing. Their Jie Mei had painted the lighting bolt coming out of it herself. "She thinks it's a good idea." He finished sorrowfully.

'Bee instantly deflated, his little antenna lying back against his yellow and gray head. "Oh…"

The small group went quiet again, sinking farther into their misery. They had never been separated before, ever. It was scary.

What if they never saw each other again?

They each thought it, but none of them dared to say it out loud.

A few more seconds passed before Val's head shot up. "Hey!" He said sitting up straighter where he had been leaning against the dusty wall. "I know what we should do!"

The other younglings shared a look. Valiturum, or Val as everyone else, even the adults, called him, was the biggest of the younglings. Consequently he was also not known for his bright ideas.

"What?" Acree asked hesitantly when she finally looked away from 'Bee.

Val grinned. "Remember when she made us have a Christmas?"

Bumblebee and Arcee shared another curious look. Across the stairwell, Fastlane and Cloudraker were doing the same. Skids and Mudflap just watched the grinning Val. All six of them wondered where he was going with this.

"Yeah…" Arcee answered for them.

Val just kept smiling. "Well remember that thing she said came after the Christmas-thing? The thing with the exploding colors?"

Bumblebee nodded as sagely as a child can. "Ah yes, that thing." He said. "What about the thing?"

Val grinned wider and spread his arms as if his answer should be obvious now. "We should make some exploding colors too."

His six fellows gave what passed for a blink among their kind. "Whhyyy?" Arcee drew out the word, keeping a wary optic on the largest boy. It always made her nervous when he got that look in his optics.

"Well like Jie Mei said, organics explode colors when all the people that came for the Christmas-thing leave again because they're happy they won't have to talk to them until the next Christmas-thing."

Cloudraker looked up at the stairwell above him in exasperation. "That's not what Jie Mei said, stupid. They explode the colors when their calendar changes."

Val glared at the other youngling. "It is to what she said, double stupid." He shot back.

Cloudraker bristled, Fastlane staying right behind him in case things got ugly. Bumblebee quickly stepped between them. "Just chill out guys." He said, making calming motions with his hands. They only had the solar cycle before Arcee and the other femmes left and he didn't think they should waste it bickering over name calling.

"Well okay," Arcee cut in, sounding neither convinced nor opposed to Val's idea yet, "then how do we make these exploding colors then?" She demanded.

For the first time since Val had gotten his grand idea, his face faltered. "Well, uh…" he tried to think of an answer.

"Oh! Oh!" Skids suddenly jumped up, one hand in the air. "We know how to do it! We can make them!"

Bumblebee looked over at the twins in surprise. "Really?" He asked. The question was shocked out of him.

Mudflap looked affronted. "Yeah, really. What? You think we don't listen to Jie Mei's stories?"

"Yeah," Skids put in, "we like her stories. That one about Sandy Claws was a riot and a half." He said, borrowing one of Jie Mei's weird organic sayings.

"For real." Mudflap added.

"So," Fastlane added just to be sure, "you _really_ know how to make the colors explode?"

The twins exchanged a look. "Well, yeah."

"We just need to go see Wheeljack about the powdery stuffs that make the colors go boom." Mudflap said.

For the first time that day, Arcee's face lit up with a grin. "Cool!" She cried. "We get to make colors explode!"

That cinched it for the rest of them. "Well alright then," Bumblebee said. It was something he had heard the older mechs say when they were thinking of plans. "Skids, Mudflap, Fastlane, and Cloudraker should go get the stuff from Wheeljack's lab. And the rest of us will go find a place where we can watch tonight. We'll all meet back here in a few joors."

Everyone but the twins nodded. The smallest younglings just looked at each other.

"Oh sure, we do all the work and they just go find the seats. How's that for fair?" Skids groused.

"Yeah," Mudflap agreed, "he spends a little time with Jie Mei and mister Prime and he starts to order us around."

Bumblebee frowned at the twins. "That's not true." He said defensively. Optimus had always been very clear that if Bumblebee wanted to rise anywhere in the Autobot ranks, he'd have to do it the old-fashioned way, just like everybody else. It was the same for all the younglings.

Arcee put a hand on his shoulder. "Ignore than 'Bee. They're just mad because you actually know what you're doing." He said, giving the twins a look that clearly showed what she thought about the two loud mouths.

"Hey!" Mudflap said.

"Just who do you think is going to build those colors anyway?" Skids demanded.

"You guys of course." Bumblebee quickly spoke up, hoping to smooth things over a little. "That's why you two have to go get the stuff. You know what you're looking for. We don't." He pointed to Arcee, Val, and himself.

Arcee crossed her arms over her chest. "Speak for yourself." She grumbled.

Fortunately, 'Bee's 'smoothing over' worked well enough on the twins' pride.

"Well…" Skids said, feigning embarrassment.

"You've got a point there." Mudflap said, standing up straighter than before. "Well come on them flyboys. We've got some colors to make." He said striding purposefully out the door, his brother behind him.

Fastlane and Cloudraker shared an exasperated look. "You so owe us for this Bumblebee." Cloudraker whispered to the yellow youngling.

Bumblebee smiled nervously. "Thanks guys."

"Yeah, yeah," Fastlane grumbled as the door closed behind them.

The three remaining younglings turned to look at each other.

"Well I say," Val said once they were sure the other four couldn't hear them anymore, "better them than us."

Arcee grinned outright. "You said it. Now come on. I think I know where to find that perfect spot to watch the show."

...

Of course Wheeljack's lab wasn't empty when they got there.

"Because that would have been too easy." Fastlane grumbled as he and the other younglings peered out from behind the open door to Wheeljack's lab. Not only was the inventor himself there, but so were Ratchet and Prowl.

"What are they doing?" Mudflap asked as quietly as either of the twins was capable of.

Fastlane heard his own brother sigh loudly beneath him. "They're talking about one of Wheeljack's machines."

"Did something go wrong?" Skids asked.

"Did it explode?" Mudflap followed him.

"It's Wheeljack," Cloudraker said pointedly, "of course it exploded. Now shut up so I can hear what they're saying."

The twins were quiet for a nanoklik.

"So what's going on?" Skids pressed.

Fastlane gave a frustrated growl. "Does it even matter? We already know that they're in there and they're obviously not leaving."

"So…?" Mudflap let the question hang.

Fastlane slowly grinned as an idea lit in his head. "So we get them to leave."

Cloudraker knew that look on his brother's face and it did not sit well with him. "Fastlane? What stupid thing are you going to do now?" He asked flatly.

Fastlane grinned wolfishly as he backed away from the other three. "You'll find out in a minute. Just hide until they're out of the room."

Then before anyone else could move, Fastlane raced off and ran smack into the hallway corner down the hall.

"Uh-oh," Skids muttered as Fastlane started to set up the most atrocious, auditory system piercing din they had every heard.

Cloudraker, Skids, and Mudflap barely had enough time to dart behind the crates that were always outside of Wheeljack's lab before the three adults came racing out to see what was going on.

"Fastlane what happened?" Cloudraker heard Ratchet demand as he, Wheeljack, and Prowl crouched down next to the crying youngling.

"I-I-I," Fastlane stuttered, stalling for time, "I sl-sl-slipped an-an-an-an-"

"And hit your head," Ratchet finished for him as he gently inspected the youngling's head, "so I see."

Prowl gave the boy a suspicious glance. "Were you running in the halls again Fastlane?" He asked.

Fastlane looked down at the ground guiltily as he continued to cry pathetically. "Ma-maybe…" he whined before redoubling his horrible, pained wail.

Cloudraker grinned as his brother's performance as he and the twins raced into the lab. The younglings had learned early on that admitting guilt to a little offense usually put off the adults' suspicions long enough to pull off the bigger crime. But even so, seeing Fastlane playing the game so well made Cloudraker very proud.

"Alright, so what do we need?" The young Seeker asked once they were safely in Wheeljack's lab.

"Powders." Skids said instantly. "Special ones that make bright, pretty colors."

The three younglings looked up at the counter above their heads. It was covered with buckets and jars and containers all filled with different powders. Cloudraker had no doubt that the cabinets that lined the wall above the counter were just as packed with powders as the counter was.

Cloudraker vented a weary sigh. "Great." He mumbled. "Could you be any _less_ specific?" He asked the twins.

The two boys looked at each other. "Uh…" Said one.

"Um…" Said the other.

Cloudraker hung his head. "Great." He groaned again.

Mudflap's head suddenly came up as he remembered. "Magnesium!" He cried. "We need magnesium."

"Oh-oh! Zinc too!"

"And iron!"

"And aluminum flakes!"

Cloudraker nodded as he carefully powered up his little used aerial systems. His guardian Cloudcover had just begun to teach him how to fly, so he wasn't at all sure how this was going to work out in the end, but he knew he should hurry up and try. Already he could hear Wheeljack's overly calm voice over the quieting cries of his brother. If Fastlane just kept crying then the Ratchet and Prowl would figure out that something was wrong. Judging from how quiet he had gotten, Cloudraker figured they only had a few more cycles before Ratchet told Fastlane he was fine.

"There, see it's just a little bump on the head, nothing to worry about too muh-ooph!" Wheeljack tried to say.

But then there was the sound of someone crashing to the floor with a clatter. Even through the crash Cloudraker heard the clang of two frames running into each other.

"Oops." Wheeljack mumbled.

And then Fastlane started wailing again, a whole lot truer than before.

"Ah Wheeljack," Prowl groaned.

Cloudraker grinned. "Alright, looks like we've got a little more time now."

"Well then hurry up!"

"Yeah, before they find us out."

Cloudraker glared at the twins. "Alright already, I'm going. Sheesh."

Then he balanced his little body, checked all the flaps and outtakes and valves and-

"Hurry _up _Cloudraker." Mudflap whined.

Cloudraker glared at him again. "I'm _going_." He hissed.

"No you're not." Skids said.

"Yeah," Mudflap pressed, "you're too scared to even _try_ to fly."

That did it. Sucking in air for bravery, Cloudraker bundled up his nerve and pushed off the ground with all of his strength.

"Whoa!" He gasped as he slid crazily one way and then overcorrected and went to far the other way, rising upward all the while.

"You're too far over!"

"To your left!"

"No, your other left!" The twins harried him.

"Would you two shut up?" Cloudraker ordered them without looking down at them. He was too busy making sure he didn't run into the ceiling.

"Ooph!" He squeaked as he ran into the cabinet instead.

The twins flinched below him in sympathy. "Oh man that did not look good."

"You alright up there Cloudraker?" Skids asked in a stage whisper.

Truthfully his head was spinning, but Cloudraker nodded anyway as he slipped sideways to hover just above the countertop. "Yeah, sure, now which one is which?"

"That one, there, at the edge." Mudflap told him, pointing to a large bowl of black powder square in the middle of the counter.

Cloudraker nodded again and carefully inched toward the large bowl. His little engines whined uncomfortably as he tried to hover over the bowl. Screwing up his faceplates in concentration, the youngling reached down and sunk his hands wrist deep into the loose powder.

"Got it!" He whispered triumphantly as he pulled out a streaming handful.

But then his concentration must have slipped too far because he abruptly swerved to the left, his wing jamming into the cabinet painfully.

"Ow!" He yelped as his wings failed him utterly. He dove, head first into a jar before sliding haphazardly across the countertop.

All of Wheeljack's jars and containers crashed to the floor with a resounding din.

Outside, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Prowl all looked up at the noise that could only equal trouble.

"What was that?" Prowl asked.

"Hurry! Grab it all!" Mudflap hissed as he and his brother shoved handfuls of different powders into subspace. Then when they heard the sound of large feet headed their way, they each grabbed Cloudraker under an arm and dragged him out the door. They ducked behind a large crate just as Prowl and Ratchet entered the room.

"What in the world…" Ratchet muttered when he saw the mess.

"My lab!" Wheeljack cried as he skidded to a stop behind the other two. "What happened to my lab?"

Ratchet and Prowl shared a look.

"Fastlane…" Ratchet muttered dangerously.

But fortunately for the youngling, he was gone by the time the cranky old medic turned around.

...

"Did you get it?" Val asked as soon as he saw the two sets of brothers in their secret stairwell later that solar cycle.

"Are they done?" Arcee asked, just as excited.

The twins, covered in dust and the debris of their explosive creations, nodded proudly.

"Yep." Skids told her, obviously pleased with himself.

"As perfect as anything any of the adults could make." Mudflap added.

"Even perfecter." Skids claimed.

"They weren't half bad." Fastlane added, evening out their self lauding praise.

"So where are they then? Where's the exploding colors?" Arcee asked, optics bright with excitement.

"We stashed them already." Cloudraker told her. "We had to be quick since Ratchet and Prowl were on our tails."

"Yeah, Wheeljack was too busy sorting out his stuff though. 'Raker here _flew_ to get Skids and Mudflap's powders down. It was _awesome._" Fastlane said, proudly clapping his brother on the shoulder. Cloudraker just looked at the floor, embarrassed.

"We may have left a mess…" He admitted.

Arcee just grinned and gave Cloudraker a one armed hug. "Aw Cloud, you're always such a neat freak."

Cloudraker's optics went a little wider at Arcee's closeness. She had that affect on most of them, even though she didn't know it. Bumblebee just frowned at Cloudraker and wished he would stop messing around.

"Well if everything's ready then we should go." Bumblebee said with a slight frown. "It's almost dark and Prowl or Ratchet might find the colors if we wait any longer."

That shocked Arcee and Cloudraker out of their lightheaded moods, along with all the others.

"Then let's go! Quick!" Arcee said, pulling at Bumblebee's hand. "Come on! Come on! All of you!" She cried before racing out the door by herself.

The youngling mechs were quick to follow her. The seven of them raced through the disused building their secret stairwell was in, going up and up until they reached a small room that was just as abandoned as their stairwell.

Systems overheating slightly, the younglings flopped down on the metal fabrics Bumblebee, Arcee, and Val had brought up once they were sure this was the perfect place to watch the show. Arcee was in the middle, with Bumblebee on one side and, after a short tussle with Fastlane, Val on the other. Fastlane laid down on Bumblebee's other side in protest of Val winning their brief fight, and Cloudraker followed him. That just left Val's other side for the twins.

"So," Arcee said once they were all settled on their stomachs, facing the window that overlooked a large, empty courtyard, "what now?"

Fastlane grinned. "Now," he said before pulling out a remote detonator out of subspace with a flash, "we use this." He grinned that wolfish grin of his again. "I've been saving it for a special occasion."

"Nothing more special than moving day." Bumblebee said, trying to remain upbeat about it.

His friends wilted around the edges, just a little. And then Arcee looked over at Fastlane stubbornly.

"Well hurry up," she told him impatiently, "light this candle!"

The boys laughed at the words she had borrowed from their Jie Mei.

And then with a grin at the mechs on either side of him, Fastlane hit the button.

The first firework exploded with more boom than anyone had first anticipated. It actually scared the adults half to death.

"Decepticons!" Ironhide yelled, jumping to conclusions as he primed his cannons, "we're under attack!"

Another boom echoed through the building, quickly followed by a flash of light that the little human Aria - or as she was known to the younglings, Jie Mei - almost recognized.

Aria frowned up at the trail of smoke as it spiraled upward and then exploded in a flash of purple-pink fire.

"That's not a missile." She said with some confusion. "It's a firework."

"A what?" Chromia asked from where she had pressed herself against Ironhide's back in readiness for the Decepticons they thought were coming.

"A firework." Aria said again. "It's pretty much a loud noise and burst of color, used for celebrations like Independence day and New Year's. It's not really dangerous." She looked over at the mech and femme. "Well, not to you anyway. It's just a bunch of smoke and a little fire."

Ironhide relaxed only the slightest bit as he looked up as another firework – this one a burst of orange and gold – shot up and exploded into the sky.

"Well what's it doing here?" He demanded, flexing his cannons.

"I'm not sure-" Aria started to say, but then the answer hit her just as it hit the other two.

"Bumblebee." Aria groaned.

"Arcee!" Chromia shouted.

"Skids! Mudflap!" Ironhide practically bellowed.

"Valiturum!"

"Fastlane!"

"Cloudraker!" They shouted the other names just for good measure.

The younglings just lay up in their balcony window, for the moment completely unaware of their imminent danger.

"Ooo…" they chorused as another pretty light shot up and exploded in a flash of blue and green fire, "Ahhh…"


End file.
